---
title: “They are called rats,” answered the king, who had overheard the que… — The Crimson Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: “They are called rats,” answered the king, who had overheard the question, “and for years we have tried some way of putting an end to them, but it is impossible. Who acts: king, we, way. A sentence of «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 18, with its dependency tree 
---

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# The Crimson Fairy Book, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 18, sentence 36

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
“They are called rats,” answered the king, who had overheard the question, “and for years we have tried some way of putting an end to them, but it is impossible.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** king, we, way · **What happens:** call, answer, overhear, try, put, be · **To what, where:** courtiers, question, way, end · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 18. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (king, we, way), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg2435:18:36
# text = “They are called rats,” answered the king, who had overheard the question, “and for years we have tried some way of putting an end to them, but it is impossible.
1	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	called	call	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	advcl	_	_
5	rats	rat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
8	answered	answer	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	_
13	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	overheard	overhear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	10	acl:relcl	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
18	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	24	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
20	for	for	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	24	obl	_	_
22	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
23	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	24	aux	_	_
24	tried	try	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	16	acl:relcl	_	_
25	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	26	det	_	_
26	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obj	_	_
27	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	28	mark	_	_
28	putting	put	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	26	acl	_	_
29	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	end	end	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obj	_	_
31	to	to	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
32	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	28	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	_
34	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	37	cc	_	_
35	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	37	expl	_	_
36	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	37	cop	_	_
37	impossible	impossible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** *in a quote* | present · passive |  | courtiers *= courtier* |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient |
| 2 | **answer** *speech: assert* | past | the king |  |  |  |  |  | vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **overhear** | past · perfect | the king | the question |  |  |  |  | vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer question=Stimulus |
| 4 | **try** *in a quote* | present · perfect | we | some way |  |  | year |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent way=Eventuality |
| 5 | **put** *in a quote* | gerund | some way *not said here* | a end | courtiers *= courtier* |  |  |  | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent end=Goal |
| 6 | **is** *in a quote* | present | the king *not said here* |  |  |  |  | impossible *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

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**Text:** «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 2435 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order.

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